power steering pump, rebuild (reseal)

[Mudboy]

well my power steering started spraying fluid everywhere. It's on my hood insulation, all over the driver side of the engine compartment, wheel well and side of truck. I first hit everything with engine degreaser then superclean, to get everything ultra dry and clean. I thought I had it nailed down to being the pressure line so I replaced it. I was wrong, it's still leaking. I believe it's the o ring between the plastic reservoir and the pump itself. So this morning I looked on rock auto and saw that they had rebuild kits for about $8.00,this is a hell of a lot better than the $50 or so for a rebuilt one. Since I'd already be in there I figured I'd just replace all of the parts that come with the kit, instead of just that one o-ring. I was wondering if anyone has rebuilt their pump and if so the difficulty (special tools, pain in the butt steps, etc.) I'm going to attempt this this weekend, the worst that will happen is it will still leak, or whine, or poor performance and I'm out 8 bucks and a small amount of my time. the best will be it works flawlessly and I do a write up on it.

 

[det107]

Looking forward to write ups & pics. Good Luck-

 

[Roadrunner777]

I have not had the steering fluid shower yet, and I'm thinking I might drive a little screw into the spray hole before it's my turn. If anyone knows a reason not to do this, then maybe I can put a little brass air muffler on there so it can vent. Thoughts? (sorry for the hi-jack, it's pretty close to topic)

 

[Mudboy]

as with anything that heats up it will expand and contract, which i believe is pretty good reasoning to have a vent. I believe the air muffler will stop a spary but allow venting. Not sure what PS shower youre talking about? No problem with the highjack.

 

[Roadrunner777]

well my power steering started spraying fluid everywhere. It's on my hood insulation, all over the driver side of the engine compartment, wheel well and side of truck.

I was assuming this was coming from the vent hole in the cap. I have heard of such things if you crank the steering with the engine off.

 

[kmack]

This is bringing up an old thread...

So I have the dreaded PS leak! It's been a slow drip for awhile, but has steadily gotten worse. The connections at the lines are clean. The steering box is covered in fluid from top to bottom (so I don't believe it's from the gear box). The pump is soaked on the bottom only. I'm assuming the O-rings are finally going out. I only have 97k miles on this truck, but it is 23 yrs old!

So here's my question...

Rebuild the old pump or buy a rebuilt pump? Pros and cons...

I know buying a rebuilt pump is the easiest...just pull the old one and slap in the new one. But if the only thing wrong with the old pump is the seals, why spend the extra money when a seal kit is all it needs! (Rebuilt pump - $50 vs Seal kit - $8)

I don't imagine there are any specialty tools required to dismantle the pump (unless I'm wrong). And I'm not scared of the challenge. I won't be able to start this project until next week when I get back from my work hitch in the oil fields (truck is currently dripping in the company's parking lot, not my driveway - Yay!!!), so I have some time to get this all figured out. But... I will be on a bit of a time crunch once I get started on it - I'll only have about a day to complete it all.

The line hoses are cheap and I plan on replacing them in this process also.

Next question. How do you get the PS pump pulley off the pump shaft?

Thanks in advance for all replies...

 

[mekelly]

You need a pulley puller to remove (and install) the PS pulley. Autozone rents them for free (you pay for it and then get all your money back when you return it).

Just make sure you take the time to line the pulley back up when you reinstall it. If you don't, you can quickly ruin your drive belt and the bearings on the PS pump.

 

[kmack]

I have a standard 3-jaw puller...will that work? So you just pull the pump (bracket and all) off the motor, then pull the pulley off?

Sounds easy enough! (Famous last words...)

 

[malohnes]

I have a standard 3-jaw puller...will that work? So you just pull the pump (bracket and all) off the motor, then pull the pulley off?

Sounds easy enough! (Famous last words...)

No, it won't work. And make sure you press on the pulley, do NOT use a hammer and whack it on.

You need to disassemble the HP hose fitting from the pump/res assembly first, then the pump and res can come apart.

 

[kmack]

Ok, thanks for the heads-up!

 

[mekelly]

I pulled the pulley when it was still installed, swapped out a rebuilt pump, installed the pump and then reinstalled the pulley.

I think it's much easier that way. As I mentioned earlier, you need to ensure the new pulley is aligned with the other pulley's. No way to do that unless the pump's installed.

 

[kmack]

Well, got everything swapped out last night. I pulled the pulley off with the pump still mounted. About halfway thru getting the pulley off, I realized it would be much easier if the fan shroud was out of the way. I got it slid over enough to give me some room to work with and the pulley came off easy enough. Seems a little easier to do it mounted in the vehicle than trying to do it mounted in a vice.

I still ended up removing the steering pump mounting bracket to allow for better access to the line fittings on the steering box. I was replacing both lines and using line wrenches, I needed all the room I could get. Once I got the old lines loose and out of the way, everything went back together fairly easy.

I started pushing the pulley back on the pump while it was still out of the truck. But I only pushed it on so far. I finished lining it up with the other engine pulleys after the steering pump was mounted. I used a straight-edge metal ruler coming off the a/c pulley to help with the final line up. Then I spent almost an hour turning the steering wheel back and forth (on jack stands of course) trying to get the last bit of air out of the system! I think I got it all. Final test drive is later this morning...

 

[mekelly]

Sounds like you got it! Check the PS fluid level over the next couple of days. It may go down a little as any remaining air is pushed out.

 

[kmack]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm not afraid to dig in and work on my vehicles, but tips and tricks are always nice when getting into a system I've never dealt with before!

 

[malohnes]

Good job! Isn't this forum the best?!

 

[smegun]

PSpumpnoise

i replaced my pump with a new re built pump but it makes more noise than the original i was contemplating easy enough install bungie the A/C up and take it out

still too much noise untill hot im thinking the right kind of lube but what is the best i dont care if i void the warrenty on the pump for using non ATF


changing the who gear assem is ok but what part in the assembly causes so much noise to happen with the pump ?

 

[natenkiki2004]

ATF Type F is what Ford says for the 1991 model year. I've got a bottle of it on the shelf along with a filter to try in mine. I bought a rebuilt pump and it was quiet for a little while but got a little noisy. Not as bad as the original but I wonder if there were particles I didn't flush out. I've noticed it gets noisier as it warms up so I've been thinking about a cooler as well. The full size trucks used the same pump but had a cooler loop on crossmember below the engine.